2005 News
Toni Collette agrees no simple alternative to mulesing
15 July 2005
Australian film star Toni Collette has written a letter to clarify her position on the Australian wool industry.
After PETA had presented Ms Collette with anti-mulesing propaganda, she wrote to Australian Prime Minister John Howard urging him to “ban mulesing of Australian sheep”.
But, after the Australian wool industry presented Ms Collette with the facts on mulesing, she has today come out in support of Australian farmers.
“Over the last few months, my name been attached to a number of statements regarding mulesing in Australia and I wish to clarify my position,” she wrote.
“I have had contact with a number of farming organisations and individual farmers, and now have a clearer understanding of the complexity of the issues surrounding mulesing in Australia. The issue is not as black and white, as was previously presented to me. I was given to understand that there were "effective and humane alternatives to prevent fly strike" and they are "currently available". I am now aware that there are no simple alternatives available to farmers at this time,” the letter said.
“I also understand that appropriate mulesing potentially eliminates pain in sheep whilst protecting them from diseases that can possibly cause even more pain than the actual mulesing technique.”
“I strongly support research and development into alternatives to current mulesing, and fervently hope advances can be made well before the promised date of 2010,” wrote Ms Collette.
Australian Wool and Sheep Industry Taskforce spokesperson Robert Pietsch warmly welcomed the letter, saying that the turnaround showed that fact prevails over fiction.
“Toni has taken the time to review our information and was motivated enough to clarify her position. For a woman of her profile that takes enormous courage and I applaud her for that,” he said.
“PETA’s strategy is to generate hysteria through media coverage and one way they do that is to mislead celebrities and piggy-back on their profile for its own means. They have obviously picked the wrong person in Toni Collette, because she had the strength of conviction to be informed.”
“The industry is investing heavily in research and development to fast-track technologies to find an effective alternative to mulesing by the 2010 deadline,” he said.
“The recent encouraging outcomes of new technology trials for mulesing alternatives show that our investment is having extremely positive results.”